Fruit picker&#39;s bag



March 10, 1942. -T. P. PETERSEN FRUIT PICKERS BAG Filed June 28, 1959 INYEN TOR.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 10, 1942 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRUIT PICKERS BAGThomas P. Petersen, Lake Wales, Fla.

Application June 28, 1939, Serial No. 281,724

. 1 Claim.

This invention relates to .a bag for use by fruit pickers and it isdesigned more especially as an improvement upon the structure disclosedin my co-pending application filed May 19, 1939, Serial No. 274,657, nowPat. No. 2,236,199, dated March 25, 1941.

An object of the invention is to improve upon the means employed forclosing the bottom of the bag during the filling operation wherebyleakage of contents of the bag either at the corners or at the center ofthe closure isavoided.

It has been found in practice that where a bag is provided with a bottomflap or closure which is supported in closed position solely at thesides of the flap, the tendency of the flap, when in closed position, isto buckle transversely, thereby forming a small spout through whichfruit or the like can escape. It has also been found that should theflap be held closed at its center and not at its sides, there is atendency of the fruit to escape from the sides or corner portion of thebag bottom.

An object of the present invention is to provide a bag having meanswhereby these objections are overcome, the closure flap being supportedat 1 points adjacent to the center of the transverse edge thereof andalso adjacent to the sides so that leakage of fruit or the like ispositively prevented.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully describedand pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may bemade in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing the preferred forms of the invention havebeen shown.

In said drawing Figure 1 is a front elevation of the bag with its bottomclosed, a portion being broken away.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the bottom portion of the bag, the samebeing shown open.

Figure 3 is a perspective View of the stiffening means provided at theupper or open end of the bag.

Figure 4 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section of themeans employed for supporting the bottom closure in raised position.

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the bottom portion of a modified formof bag, the same being shown open.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, I designates theside rods and 2 the cross or connecting rod ofa stiffening frame andthis frame carries an arcuate rod 3 which extends outwardly therefromfor engagement with the upper edge of the outwardly bowed front portionof the top of a bag 4. A web 5 can be used for joining the side rods Iand to this web-is secured a protecting cushion or pad 6 located aboveand longitudinally along the rod 2 so as to prevent fruit from beingbruised by the rod when dropped into the bag. To the arcuate rod 3 aresecured rigid yokes I or the like located adjacent to the ends of saidrod and adapted to be engaged by the ends of a supporting strap .placedover the shoulders of the user. is attached to the middle portion of therod 3 outside of the bag by means of an integral eye 9 which is clampedabout the rod. The hook is adapted to be inserted into a loop I0 whichin cludes a flat cross-bar II so proportioned that it can be insertedinto the hook only when the loop is swung outwardly relative to thehook. Likewise the loop must be brought to this outwardly extendedposition before it can be disengaged from the hook. It is to beunderstood of course that the bill of the hook is spaced from theopposed portion thereof a distance only slightly greater than thethickness of the bar I I. This will be apparent by referring to Figure4.

The bag 4, which can be of canvas or any other suitable durable materialis open at the bottom and has a closure flap I2 extending from the .backthereof throughout the width of the bag. This closure flap has astraight intermediate edge portion I3 from which diverge side edgeportions I 4. These edge portions can be stiffened by means of a coiledspring I5 housed therein. Webs I6 connect the sides of the bag 4 to theadjacent side edges I 4 of the flap I2 and cooperate with said flap,when open, to form a spout whereby fruit can flow from the open bag to asuitable con tainer to which the spout is extende Grommets I! areprovided in the flap I2 adjacent to the webs I6 and additional grommetsI8 are located in the flap adjacent to the ends of the intermediate edgeI3. A third set of.

grommets I9 is located in the front of the bag 4 adjacent to the webs I6where they will substantially register with the grommets II when theflap I2 is closed.

The ends of a rope 20 are held in the grommets I9 by knots 2| at theends of the rope and this rope is threaded through the grommets I1 andthence back through the grommets [8, the middle portion of the ropebeing attached to the loop I heretofore described. The rope is providedwith knots 22 between the grommets l1 and I8 and are so located thatwhen the flap I2 is closed against the front of the bag 4 as shown inFigure 1, these knots will engage the grommets l8 so that the rope willnot be pulled further through the grommets l8 and cause the bottomportion of the bag as well as the flap I2 to be gathered along thesides. In other words the load to which the upper edge portion of flap12 is subjected will be transmitted through the knots 22 to the rope 20while the load to which the bottom portion of the bag is subjected atthe flap side thereof, will be carried by those portions of the ropebetween knots 22 and the end knots 2 I.

The pad 6 heretofore referred to can be constructed and located in thesame manner as 'disclosed in my application hereinbefore stated, thesame being located on the web and, if preferred, having a dependingapron 23 extending downwardly in front of the web.

In practice the bag is supported by a shoulder strap 23 connected to theyoke I so that the frame made up of rods l and 2 and the back side ofthe bag will cause to rest against the body of the user while yokes 1will aid in supporting the arcuate rod 3 in an outwardly extendedposition. Thus the top end of the bag is held open and the fruit canreadily be dropped thereinto. The pad 6 prevents the fruit from beingbruised by coming into contact with rod 2. It is of course to beunderstood that loop I0 is in engagement with hook 8 while the bag isbeing filled and at this time the rope 20 exerts a spreading action uponthe straight edge portion of the flap and at the same time holds thelower portion of the strap tightly against the adjacent'portion of thebag. Spring 15 serves to stiffen the edges of the flap so there is notendency to buckle. Obviously, however, such tendency is practicallyovercome due to the fact that the grommets I8 in the flap 12 when closedare out of line with the loop l0 and the grommets I! so that when therope is subjected to a load its tendency is to straighten out and pullin opposite directions upon the straight edge portion l3 of the flap.The knot 22 also serves to pull upwardly on the side edge portions ofthe flap so as to hold them taut as well as the edge portion l3, and asthe webs I6 have been folded between the flap and bag when the flap isclosed, all danger of leakage of fruit, even though the fruit is quitesmall, is eliminated.

When it is desired to deliver the contents of the bag it is merelynecessary to swing the lower end of loop I0 upwardly until the fiat barII can be withdrawn from the hook 8. The rope 20 is then released andthe flap I2 will swing downwardly and assume a spout-like form, as shownin Figure 2, thereby guiding the fruit into any container positioned toreceive it.

Instead of providing the bag with a flap forming a spout, as heretoforedescribed, the back edge of the bag can be extended a short distancebeyond the front edge to form a comparatively short apron 24 as shown inFigure 5. Corner webs 25 like'the webs [6 can be used and a row ofgrommets 26, preferably four in number, can be provided in the front ofthe bag along the lower edge thereof, two of these grommets beinglocated close to the webs 25 while the remaining grommets can be equallyspaced from each other and from the end grommets. Additional grommetssimilarly arranged are located in the projecting flap 24, as indicatedat 21.

Ropes 28 are threaded at their terminals forwardly through the endgrommets 21 and 26 and are provided with terminal knots 29 located infront of the bag. Branch ropes 30 which are attached to ropes 28 arealsothreaded forwardly through the remaining grommets 21 and 26 and haveknots 3| at their terminals. Rope 28 is adapted to be fastened to a hook8 such as shown in Figure 1 for the purpose ,of holding the bottomportion of the bag folded substantially along the line indicated at 32and when the bottom is thus folded, grommets 21 will be pulled towardand held tightly against the grommets 26, thereby closing togetheropposed portions of the open end of the bag before said bag is foldedalong the line 32. Consequently leakage of the contents of the bag isprevented. When the rope 28 is released, the weight of the contents ofthe bag will force apart the opposed portions at the open end so thatthe fruit can thus flow into a suitable container and between thoseportions of the ropes connecting the grommets.

While it is preferred to use a rope for the purpose of holding thebottom of the bag closed, it is to be understood that any suitableflexible means can be employed and the term rope is to be construed asapplying to all such devices.

What is claimed is:

A device of the class described including a bag open at the top andbottom, a flap constituting an extension of the back of the bag at thebottom, said flap having converging side edges and a straightintermediate free edge, spaced grommets in the front of the bag andspaced grommets in the flap adjacent to the back of the bag, whereby,when the flap is folded against the front of the bag, said grommets inthe flap will register with the grommets in the front, spaced grommetsin the flap adjacent to the ends of its straight free edge and spacedapart a distance less than those adjacent the back, a rope providing aloop having side portions extending outwardly through the grommetsadjacent the free edge of the flap, inwardly through the grommets in theflap adjacent the back of the bag and inwardly through the grommets inthe front of the bag, those grommets adjacent to the free edge of theflap being positioned to hold the sides of the looped rope offset towardeach other at the locality of said grommets whereby, when the rope isdrawn taut, it operates to hold the free end of the flap taut in atransverse direction and, when gradually released, it lowers the flap toprovide a delivery spout, and spaced means on each rope end and on eachside portion of the looped rope between the flap grommets for holdingthe rope against withdrawal from the grommets in the front and againstwithdrawal through the grommets in the flap respectively, and means onthe upper portion of the bag for engaging and supporting the loopedrope, with the flap in upwardly extending position against the front ofthe bag.

THOMAS P. PETERSEN.

